Iris
by Sunny Morning
Summary: Riches to rags in a journey flat. The poor girl's struggling to cope with it, but Jill's determined to make her new life in mineral town work... If she can get away from her spoilt and petulant past. Rating will change when more coarse language is used.
1. Ungraceful Awakenings

**Hey everyone! Okay, so this is my first attempt at a fan fiction – or, at least, at **_**publishing**_** a fan fiction – so please be supportive and review and criticize and compliment and whatever if you're interested. Thank you! R&R!**

--------------------------------

[ Chapter 1: Ungraceful Awakenings ]

The sun was beginning to peep over the tops of the hills; it's golden rays fanning out across the paling sky, tingeing the fluffy white clouds different hues of pink, orange, and purple. Birds were singing in the trees, and a little further down the road, chickens could be heard clucking and squawking, and a Cockerel crowed loudly – extremely loudly.

"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!" it called.

"Ohmigoddess, what-"

THUD.

The girl blinked rapidly, trying to clear her sleepy, sparkling sky blue eyes, and looked around. The cockerel crowing had awoken and scared her so much that she had screamed and ungracefully tumbled out of bed. She sat up, and looked at the clock on her wall. It read quarter to six in the morning.

…Wait, what?

'_This is way too early_!' she thought, raising an eyebrow. It was rare is she was even home to go to bed at this time when she lived in the city. The girl shook her head and looked at the clock again, just to check that she wasn't seeing things. And… no, she wasn't.

She glared at the half open window. How dare that… that… thing, wake her up this early! She'd only had, what, three hours sleep? Grumbling something about the whatever-it-was and a meat cleaver under her breath, she clambered back into bed, and had just drifted off to sleep again when there was a sharp, and certainly quite loud, knock at the door.

"Holy-!"

THUD.

The girl got up, grumbling angrily. She'd fallen out of bed again. The knock came once more, this time a little more urgently. Who on earth had the nerve to come knocking at this time? Making a mental note to kill whoever it was when she wasn't half asleep, she rolled her eyes as the knock came a third time.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming, I'm coming!" She called, exasperated and stifling a yawn, and the knocking ceased. She pulled open the door, glaring out at… no one. Looking around, bewildered, she grumbled some more and closed the door.

"Stupid kids… Stupid knock-and-run… If I ever get my hands on-" she was cut off as there was yet another knock.

"What?!" she growled viciously, flinging the door open with such force that it crashed against the wall it was hinged to, so loudly that only the end of a small cry could be heard. She followed where the voice had come from, and looked down to see a small, plump little man with a large nose that irritatingly reminded the girl of a potato, dressed in a red suit with a matching top-hat. He seemed to be cowering; it was probably because of the way the girl had acted when throwing open the door… Or it could have been because her dirty-blonde hair was extremely messy, it pointed in all directions – literally, it was everywhere – or perhaps it was because she was wearing what might have been the shortest nightdress ever seen. He cleared his throat, regaining his composure, or, at least, attempting to.

"Ah, you must be Miss Jillian Collins." He said, forcing a smile.

"Jill. Please. Just Jill."

"Y-yes, yes, of course. Um, I'm the Mayor of this town. My name is Thomas." Jill gave the small man a sleepy smile and rubbed her eyes.

"Nice to meet you." She said, warming slightly – he was kind of cute, she thought. In a puppy-dog kind of way – but not like that. He smiled, giving a funny sort of half-bow, half nod.

"Yes, you too. Anyhow, I have come to give you a few pointers on your farm." Jill looked around at the awful mess surrounding her little shack of a house, and figured that if it were able to, it would most probably blush bright red in embarrassment whilst barely scraping itself a qualification as a disgrace to anything that could ever be called a farm ever, and grimaced.

"So, it would probably best to…" he started off, and ranted on and on about many different things (which Jill strained to listen to whilst trying not to fall asleep on the doorframe, yawn, or examine her nails with boredom), of which she caught consisted of clearing her field to start with, planting and growing crops and collecting herbs to start off her income and buying her first chicken as soon as possible, to use the hot springs instead of a shower as her house wouldn't have a bathroom for a while, and something about a man named Zack picking up her shipments, which went in the funny brown box next to her house, and leaving her money every day at five o'clock – although she couldn't tell whether he had meant AM or PM.

"Okay, well, that's about it." He finished with a bright smile. "Drop by my house in the north of town if you ever need any help, okay?" Jill nodded.

"Well, goodbye, Miss Jill." He did his funny bow thing again and scuttled off.

"Bye." Jill called after him, closing the door and walking into the middle of the room. Realising she was still slightly tired, she contemplated going back to bed, and also the big mess of a field she had to clear that day so she could start bringing in an income. Deciding that sleep could wait until later, the blonde opened one of her two suitcases – large suitcases, mind you – of clothes and got dressed. She had wanted to bring a lot more: nine of them infact, but her father had only allowed her to bring two, one of them which he had packed.

Hairbrush in hand, she approached her mirror and bit her lip when she saw her hair. Then again, she went through this every morning, so it was nothing new.

"God, no wonder that poor little guy was scared of me." Jill muttered to herself, starting to gingerly pull the brush through her ratty locks. When she was confident her hair was knot-free, she pulled a small, silver hair-tie off her wrist and gave it a quick inspection. She always wore a hair-tie on her wrist wherever she went, just in case. She swept her hair back into a neat ponytail and then looked around, wondering what exactly to do next. She suddenly remembered the Mayor saying something about a toolbox in her room, and her eyes lit up as she found it. She heaved open the lid, and her eyes scanned the tools.

"Hello, what do we have here…?" She said, half to herself, half to the tools, as she pulled out several sharp-looking objects she didn't recognise. Amongst them she spotted a rake, a hammer, an axe and a watering can. She also pulled out a large rucksack.

'Must be to put the tools in,' she thought. Slinging the bag over her back and picking up the hammer, she headed outside.

***

As Jill lay in bed that night, absent-mindedly sliding the top screen of her still signal-less diamante-encrusted BlackBerry up and down over and over again, she heavy heartedly went over the events of that day and wondered whether coming here was a good idea after all…

When Jill had arrived outside, she looked around.

What had used to be a field was now a patch of muddy ground, wet from the day before's spring downpour, with clumps of weeds, stones, rocks, random twigs and branches littering it. Right in the middle sat a large boulder, which didn't look like Jill would be able to break it on her own.

It also wasn't probably a very good idea to be wearing an expensive designer summer dress and an even more expensive pair of stiletto heels for farm work…

First of all, she had (unsuccessfully) attempted at weeding her field.

Unsure of herself, she grasped hold of the leafy stem of one particularly long plant, and gave it a sharp tug. It didn't budge. Jill rolled her eyes, grasping it with both hands and gave it a long, hard pull. It still wouldn't move. Sighing, Jill took hold of the evil thing again, and, digging her heels into the ground to secure herself, pulled as hard as she could.

The next thing she knew she was on her backside on the ground, the plant wrenched free of the soil, and in her hands. She was covered in mud.

After repeating this process several times – tugging, pulling, yanking, falling – she gave up.

Noticing the twigs and sticks still randomly placed all over the field, she decided to work on those next. After two hours or so of endlessly gathering sticks, she turned to see that the more she picked up, the more she dropped behind her as she walked. She immediately gave up.

Not long afterwards, it had started to rain, and soon it was heaving down in bucketfuls of water, and Jill was _filthy_. Seeing as it had started raining, the mud grew thicker… And thicker. And thicker. And wetter and sloppier and gooier until there were puddles everywhere. Jill's stilettos, one by one and on different ends of the field, had become wedged so deeply into the brown messy mush the ground had turned into that she had to abandon them if she didn't want to end up waist-deep in the mud too.

Her dress was ruined. It was slicked with mud, and ripped beyond repair. There went that season's Gucci. And, as she stood on the doorstep, fumbling around in her rucksack for her door key (she had locked the door – city habit), she realised with great horror that it had vanished, into thin air. The rain never ceased, and, exhausted, disgustingly dirty, her hair full of twigs and debris and resembling more of a golden birds' nest rather than anything else at that time, Jill collapsed into a heap of mess on her doorstep and curled up into a ball that sobbed in despair for an hour or so.

When Jill finally looked up, her eyes red and sore from crying, the rain had stopped and the clouds had just parted to show one single ray of sunshine peeking through. Something shiny glinted in the corner of Jill's eye, and she turned to face her door, and – there it was, in all it's taunting glory. Her key, in the keyhole.

That was it for Jill. She snapped.

Never ever in her life had she been this dirty before.

She threw a tantrum – she stormed into the house, throwing her sopping wet toolbag across the floor, leaving muddy footprints wherever she walked, yelling and ranting about the unfairness of the situation, but again something caught her eye and she stopped, approaching the mirror once more only to see her muddy, messy, scruffy, dishevelled reflection staring back at her.

And then, she let out the loudest, most piercing scream possible that would have brought people running to her from anywhere within a mile radius back where she came from, but the people of Mineral Town would most likely have barely reacted.

So, after that, she had taken several different shampoos and conditioners and various other skin and hair care products up to the hot spring, which the Mayor had also mentioned. She had washed her hair nine times over with both shampoo, conditioner and several other detoxifying products, and then cleansed, moisturised and re-moisturised herself with anything she could find until the spring was almost a bubble-bath and she was completely squeaky clean.

After that, she had dried and re-moisturised herself once more before dressing in her more suitable pyjamas her father has packed her, a t-shirt and a pair of long trousers. Also, she had dug out her most sensible walking shoes she had packed (she didn't dare to look at what else her father had given her) which were a pair of flat black ballet pumps. She wrapped her hair in a towel and then marched home, a glare fixed on her face the whole way, fuming and raving about how much trouble a spot of rain had caused her here. Even when she passed a squirrel, inconspicuously going about it's business, she threw a harsh scowl at it and yelled "What are YOU looking at?!" so loudly it had dropped the nut it was nibbling and scampered back up the tree it was sat on.

Yes. It had definitely been a bad day for Jill. She lay in bed, her hair almost dry, and tears of frustration beginning to well up in her eyes once more. She bit her lip, forcing them back, and decided that the farm work could wait a day or two. What she wanted more was to get out, to see the place, meet the people, to see the wide-open spaces her father had talked about as he tried so hard to convince her that they even existed, whilst he hurriedly shoved her down the porch steps of his beautiful mansion and into the taxi that waited in the drive. He had also yelled something about taking responsibility for herself for once and giving life some elbow grease, but Jill had so defiantly not listened properly that she couldn't remember anything more. She didn't want to remember it anyway.

In all fairness, though, Jill couldn't remember the last time she had ever done any hard work – or work, for that matter.

She sighed. The town centre and the other residents of Mineral town would be easier to tackle.

_That's what I'll do_.' Jill decided, '_I'll go into the town, and meet the people_.' A small grin flashed across her face as she slithered down underneath her duvet and curled up, ready to sleep. Surely, what with her charm and etiquette, she would be able to win them over in five minutes.

Or so she thought.

In conclusion, not only had Jill been ungracefully awoken to that day, she had been _very_ ungracefully awoken to the real world…


	2. What? No Sevice?

Well, it certainly looks like Jill's got a lot in store for her in Mineral town! Farming in expensive casual clothing is probably not the best of ideas.  
She was excited about meeting the townspeople the next day, but how will it go? Read this chapter and find out!

Also, I know that the houses the Heroines start out with in the actual games don't have kitchens, but honestly, how can you expect anyone to survive in a house with a bed, a TV, and a table?

**Review replies:  
**

**HmGirly; **My first reviewer! Yay! :D And an amazing writer, too. Thank you very much! ^w^ I know, Jill certainly has a lot of things to learn and a lot of obstacles to cross before she can really fit in, or at least start to, while she's in Mineral Town. Privileged? I would say spoilt rotten was more fitting. XD She'll seem like an utter pig, and you'll probably start to hate her at first, but it's not who she really is, it's what she was brought up into… I won't say anymore. Must not let on too much about her past. -nodnod- Once again, thank you for being my first reviewer, I really appreciate it. :3

**And now, on with the story! **

--------------------------------

[Chapter II: What? No Service? ]

It was a new day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing in the trees, and Jill was in a relatively good mood despite the events of the day before. The whatever-it-was had crowed again, waking Jill, but soon after she managed to drift back to sleep as she knew she didn't have to get up so early that day.

Seeing as there was no bathroom in her house, Jill had to create a substitute. There was a sink in the tiny kitchen area of her house, and she had set up the portable mirror that she had brought with her in the cabinet just above it, where she had also put all of her hair care, skincare, and various other beauty and health products including her toothbrush and toothpaste. She used this mirror-cupboard duo as her vanity and bathroom cabinet, with the sink below, like in her bathroom back home.

…Except her bathroom back home was bigger than the whole farmhouse.

After her usual morning ritual of brushing and styling her hair (today in two low pigtails), checking for spots or any other blemishes on her face, applying skincare products, etc, she walked into the middle of her room donned in a white dressing-gown with a pale green mixture slathered all over her face like a mask, and her fringe pulled back by an Alice band. The packet that the green gloop had come out of was what Jill was now studying so intently; it read 'Cucumber Cleanse – a girl's best friend: helps to clean out pores and remove blackheads, control spots, and deeply cleanse and moisturise all skin types.'

Jill shrugged. It would do. Looking over at her open suitcase – the one she had packed – she only counted three more sachets.

'_Damn_,' she thought, frowning, '_I_'_ll have to get some more of these_…'

Tossing the now empty packet to one side, she decided she would grin and bear it and see whatever else her father had packed her. Pulling the suitcase out from underneath her bed, she unzipped it, her eyes screwed shut, flipped open the lid, and slowly opened one eye.

"GAH!"

After jumping back in surprise, she tried to register exactly what she was looking at. It was a pair of shoes of some sort, but not like any she'd ever seen before. They didn't have high heels – or heels of any kind, for that matter – they were flat, but the soles were almost an inch thick, and had a ridge in the middle where the arch of the foot would be.

'_Almost like a pair of heels_,' she thought. Cautiously, she slipped one of her dainty, feet into the brown monstrosity, wincing as if it caused her pain to do so. It was rock solid, but when she applied pressure on the sole, it compressed, like a sponge. They were like ankle-boots because that was where they reached: her ankles, but they were bigger and clumpier than any shoes she'd ever worn before, and without heels. They laced up at the front.

They were the sort of shoes that hard working people wore, and fairly comfy all the same. Although, as far as Jill was concerned, they were ugly, clompy, and an omen.

The only good things about them were that they had been polished so highly that Jill could clearly see her own reflection in them, and that they were a fairly nice colour.

And she would probably be much better off wearing these than stilettos when she came to get on with her farm work. That was the omen-y part. Work.

Next, she pulled out several t-shirts – all the same style and shape, but different colours. There were nine of them, in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, and white. There were also nine gingham-patterned shirts, one of each of the same colours, and there were also nine jumpers, one of each of the same colours. The t-shirts weren't so bad, but the shirts and jumpers were plain disgusting.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the jumpers were fitted like all the ones she had ever owned, but they were baggy and loose, and really really close-knitted thick-spun woollen jumpers. Ew! Now her dad was trying to make her wear sheep. The shirts were even worse in Jill's eyes – they were the sort of shirts men wore, with stiff collars and button-up cuffs and that awful, awful gingham plaid pattern in several shades of the top's basic colour.

"Ugh! What's he tryin'a do, make me ill?" she scorned, wrinkling her nose in distaste as she lifted the green shirt out. She held it between her thumb and forefinger at arm's length.

After unpacking those, she discovered a small red leather-bound book. The family album that Jill hadn't looked at since she was eight. She rolled her eyes and tossed it aside, but watched as a single photograph fluttered out from between it's pages and landed gently on the floor. The only loose photograph in the album, and as she crawled over on her hands and knees towards it, she recognised it instantly.

The picture was of a tall, slender, beautiful, smiley blonde woman with radiant skin, shining bluish-green eyes, and laugh-lines. Next to the woman was a small boy, about two or three years old, who had similar features – the laugh lines, cute little dimples on his chubby cheeks that made Jill want to pinch them and coo, the perfectly straight button nose – but with blue eyes, like Jill's, and chocolate brown hair that flopped into his face. His skin was also darker than the woman's. It was olive skin. Like Jill's.

From what Jill could tell from the woman's body language, she was the boy's mother. She stood with an arm around his shoulders, drawing him in towards her, protectively. And there was a flicker of pride in her eyes.

They were stood beneath an apple tree, and the sun was shining brightly in the background.

Jill had used to stare at that picture for hours on end trying to work out who it was, but she had never actually figured it out. She had never seen them before. She figured they were distant family friends, or perhaps long-lost cousins, twice removed. Thrice removed, even.

With a sad smile, Jill slipped the photo back into the album and laid it to rest by her side as she knelt on the floor. There was a framed photograph inside the suitcase, of six people. Her father – a tall, tanned, attractive man with bleached blonde hair and warm brown eyes. Jill's father was an extremely wealthy businessman who had important, powerful friends in very high places. He was confident, sure of himself, and always bursting with energy. Next to him was a stunningly attractive woman with flowing, startling red locks that curled beautifully around her gorgeous pale face, with it's high cheekbones and flawless, luminous skin and glistening, dark-lashed ocean blue eyes. She was only wearing a vest top and a pair of cut-off jeans, but she looked like a million gold model anyway. Well, that was simply because she was. Or, had been, when she was younger.

Stood infront of them were three boys, all exceedingly handsome, with their mother's high cheekbones, and their father's brown eyes, and sharp, angular, chiselled-by-angels faces. They were all well built, muscular but slim, and about a foot between each of them in height, and two years between each of them in age. The oldest, Cody, was twenty in that picture. He had dark, almost black hair, and was flashing a pearly white grin for the camera, but his eyes remained ever alert, ever serious, and ever businesslike. Now, he was twenty-seven, and he was working with and going to take over for Jill's father in his massive company. The middle brother, Brady, was eighteen in that picture. He had inherited Jill's mother's creativeness, and now, at twenty-five, he lived in Paris with his wife 'Kandi', working as an artist. He had a very charming smile, even though he didn't show his teeth, and his dark hair was riddled with splashes of caramel and platinum blonde streaks, and his eyes twinkled with humour. He was dressed in a pair of blue overalls that were splashed with paint, and he had a big red smudge of paint across his right cheek. The youngest boy, Alex, had been sixteen in that photo, and was now twenty-three. He had his mother's scarlet hair, and his eyes were paler than Cody and Brady's, tinged green. He was dressed in a camouflage army outfit, and was grinning the most excitedly of all. That was when he had first joined up. He wouldn't stop wearing his uniform. He paraded about the house in it all day long. Jill remembered the stories he would tell her about being a hero in battle, and saving millions of innocent people. Just like he had always wanted to do. Jill had always been particularly fond of Alex. Not only was it the smaller age gap between the two, but he was always nice to her, always stuck up for her, was always 'in on the defence' as he called it. Jill grinned, stroking his glass-covered face with the tip of her finger.

And then, right on the end, clinging on to Alex and grinning broadly, was Jill. She must have been about twelve then. She was nineteen now. Her golden hair was neatly curled, her sky blue eyes sparkling, her teeth white, her skin clear, with long legs and a slim figure, but she was plain compared to her siblings. To be perfectly honest, she hadn't really inherited anything from either of her parents. Her father's fair hair and her mother's blue eyes, but nothing much else. It was like she didn't belong in her family, she wasn't part of them – she didn't fit in. And it was true – she had never genuinely felt like she did. Ever since high school, anyway. She went to the same school all her brothers had been to, and was constantly compared to and expected to live up to their unbeatable standards. In English, Maths and Science, like Cody, with his exceptional brain and intuitive, experimental nature. In Drama, Music, and Art, like Brady, with his amazing creative skills and quick-witted humour. In Gym class, like Alex, with his phenomenal physical fitness and stamina. But she had never really managed to get quite as far as they did, and therefore she seemed to disappoint everyone. But a lot had changed since then.

With a heavy sigh, Jill put the photograph to one side and then looked at the practically empty suitcase. There were only two things left. One was Brady's old blue overalls, with faint paint stains and a rip on the left knee, and the other was something she had had for as long as she could remember. Gently, she pulled it out. On a delicate, solid silver chain hung a tiny glass pendant in the shape of a star. She knew this necklace inside out – she used to wear it all the time, until she was ten. In the back of the pendant, there was a word engraved, and one single word at that.

'Jack,' she whispered, running her finger over the tiny embedded print. She didn't know what it meant – she assumed it was the brand that manufactured it – but nevertheless, she slipped it on anyway, because it was pretty.

Shoving the suitcase back under the bed after taking out the overalls, Jill opened up the last of her three designated clothes cabinets and hurriedly folded away all of the horrible clothing and the overalls and placed the black boots by her other five pairs of shoes, which were by the door. She set the framed photo up on her bedside chest of drawers, next to her lamp, and slipped the photo album into the top drawer. With a quick glance up at the wall clock, which read quarter to ten, Jill gasped and hurried to wash off her face-mask and get dressed.

Jill walked up the path that led into the town centre, dressed in a halter-neck crop-top, a pair of glitzy jeans and her black pumps. Also, she was wearing a black hoody, equipped in case it rained. She missed her umbrella sorely. And the man who held it up for her.

She had made herself up nicely so she was presentable for meeting everyone, and had applied makeup for the first time in two days, which was a miracle for her. The usual – foundation, eyeliner, mascara, lipgloss – and she felt pretty, and confident.

As she strolled down the little cobbled road, her stomach growled loudly:

RUMBLERUMBLE.

Jill grimaced, her hands grasping her stomach. She suddenly realised how hungry she was: she hadn't eaten in two days, and she was so ravenous it hurt.

'_I_'_ll find a restaurant or something_,' she thought, nodding. She quickened her pace and soon, she approached a little square, flanked on three sides by houses and shops and on the other by thick looming forest. Her stomach began grumbling ferociously, and she looked around helplessly for anything that resembled a restaurant. A shop window caught her eye – there was a warm light coming from within it, like candlelight or fire. Just like in those romantic Italian restaurants she had been in back home. She made a mad dash for the door and heaved it open. The first thing that hit her was the smell – the smell of burning.

Her eyes widened as they travelled to where the stench was coming from, and they widened further at what they saw.

There was a fire crackling in a casting oven behind the desk and in the far corner of the room, and stood by it was a young man who appeared to be making something. He was wearing a mask that protected him from the light of his blowtorch, and his fiery red hair glowed in the firelight. His tan jacket was tied around his waist. He was wearing similar-coloured trousers. Jill gawped. He was topless.

She stared at him as he worked – his muscles rippled underneath his golden-glowing skin as he worked a piece of metal into various different shapes. And Jill could not avert her eyes.

Finally, he stopped. He turned off his blowtorch and lifted his mask away from his face. He had beautiful dark blue eyes. He slid the metal piece into the casting oven and slammed the door shut, muttering something under his breath. He pulled his mask off and ran his hand through his hair. And that was when he noticed Jill. Still gawping.

"Um, can I help you?" He asked.

Jill merely stared.

"Hello?"

Jill's mouth snapped shut, and her cheeks flushed pink.

"Oh! I'm so sorry," she said as the man put his jacket back on. Her eyes flickered to his muscular chest and then back up to his face. He gave her a funny look and then picked up a worn blue cap with a red peak. It had the letters 'UMA' across the front of it. He shook his hair out of his eyes and then placed the cap atop his head, and pulled it down over his eyes. His expression was unreadable.

"Um, I was looking for a restaurant and I saw…" Jill started cheerfully, but her voice faltered as she scanned the rest of the room. Behind the desk, it was cluttered with various tools, misshapen pieces of metal, and sacks of shiny rocks. This most certainly was not a restaurant.

The man scoffed.

"Well, why'd you come here then? This is a Blacksmith, not a restaurant."

"A what?" Jill looked at him blankly. She could swear he rolled his eyes as he turned away and walked back over to the oven to check on the metal thing.

"A Blacksmith," he said, "Y'know, where people-" He was cut off as a little bell sounded and the door opened. In came a large, round, balding man with a long white beard and bushy eyebrows to match. His head glinted in the gentle firelight.

"Ah? And who do we have here then, Gray?" The old man asked, raising a thick eyebrow at Jill. The red-haired man shrugged indifferently.

"My name is Jill Collins. I've moved into the farm up near the spring." She said with a confident grin, batting her eyelashes.

"You're a brave one to be livin' there," the old man said with a frown. There was something in his cold blue eyes that Jill couldn't pinpoint; it was as if he was searching her face for something. He shook his head slightly and then looked her up and down, at her expensive, flashy clothing. "Although you don't seem the type to be a farm girl."

'_Well, you don't seem to be the type to be a Blacksmith either_,_ whatever it is_,' Jill thought, her eyes narrowing.

"Well, this is the village Blacksmith. What can we do for you?"

"I-" Jill was cut off as something loud clattered on the other side of the room. The redhead, Gray, was muttering harshly under his breath as he collected pieces of shattered metal and glass.

"What d'you think you're doing?!" The old man yelled, his eyes ablaze. "You stupid boy! Pick it up and start again!"

"Yes, Saibara," Gray said through gritted teeth. Jill caught a glimpse of his face; it seemed strained, as if he was forcing himself not to hit the old man. He started grumbling again as he dropped the pieces into a small pile and then walked out into the back room.

"Well, anyway," the old man turned back to Jill, scratching his head, "I'm sorry about that. Gray – that useless moron – is my grandson. My name is Saibara, and I'm the local Blacksmith." He saw the confusion and blankness in Jill's expression, and raised a bushy eyebrow. "Y'know, a Blacksmith – we make things out of metal, tools and jewellery and other things…"

"Yeah, I-I know." Jill said quickly, her cheeks flushing again. She looked away from him. He cleared his throat.

"Well, err, what can I help you with?"

"Erm…" Jill thought about this quickly, trying not to make herself sound any stupider than she already appeared, "I was looking for somewhere to eat, and I just popped in to ask for directions." She finished with a grin of satisfaction.

"Well, there's only the Inn a few houses up from here. It's unavoidable." He gave her a warm smile. Gray returned from the back room with a broom and a dustpan.

"Thank you Saibara, Gray. G'bye!" And with that, Jill left.

"…Strange girl," Saibara said, shaking his head again. Gray sighed.

"Tell me about it."

The moment Jill got outside, she scowled. How rude Gray had been! Just because she didn't know what a Blacksmith was.

"Humph. I'll show them," She muttered, pursing her lips. She wandered down the line of buildings a little further before she came across a large, old-fashioned building with a hanging sign outside. It read 'Mineral Inn'.

"This must be it."

And Jill went inside. There were lots of wooden tables and chairs placed neatly about the large room, and there was a long bar with several stools lined up next to it. Behind the bar was a door that was labelled 'Kitchen'. Several people were sat at the bar, a few at tables. Jill approached the bar and sat down, waiting for someone to come and serve her. Her hand travelled to her jeans pocket, where her purse was, containing what little money she had been given.

"Thanks, Ann," said a warm, gentle voice. Jill looked up, and realised she was next to somebody. His eyes were soft and brown, and his long walnut hair was drawn back into a ponytail. The ends of his hair were dark blonde, and they faded up into the brown that the rest of it was. His skin was fairly pale, and he had a few freckles, but he was still cute. _Very_ cute. A pretty, freckled girl who had long red hair similar to Jill's mother's, braided neatly, had just handed him a plate full of food – eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, and grilled tomatoes. She was dressed in overalls.

"You're welcome, Cliff," the girl said, grinning. Jill saw how her face lit up when she said the man's name, and so did his, and she guessed (sadly) that they must be a couple of sorts. She watched as the girl's greyish-blue eyes moved on to her.

"Hey, I've not seen you around before," the girl said with a broad grin.

"That's because I've only been here for a two days," Jill said matter-of-factly. The girl raised an eyebrow, and then forced a smile.

"Well, my name's Ann, I work here at the Inn with my dad," she said, grinning, "It's nice to meet you! And you are?"

"Jill Collins," Jill said, with a half-smile. She was trying to resist the urge to yell at Ann, to tell her to shut up and give her food already. "Erm, can I have something to eat please?"

"Where've you moved in to?" Ann said, ignoring Jill's question.

"Mineral Farm," Jill said, clenching her jaw, "I moved here from the city. Now, if you don't mind, I haven't eaten anything in ages, so-"

"The farm?" The man sat next to Jill said through a mouthful of toast. Jill stared at the warm, buttered slice in his hand, and her mouth watered.

"That place has been shut down for ages," he commented, swallowing loudly, "It's a tip. And you don't really look like the sort of girl who'd be up to running it." Ann nodded, but Jill didn't see.

"Well, I'm doing just fine, thank you," She snapped, hoping they wouldn't see through her lie, and then turned back to Ann, leaving the brunette staring at her, bewildered. Ann stared too, then shook it off and smiled as warmly as she could, hoping it didn't look fake.

"Can I PLEASE have something to eat now?" Jill asked, an unfamiliar tone of desperation in her voice. Ann nodded, and pointed at the chalkboard menu above their heads, hanging from the ceiling.

"You can have pancakes, waffles, toast, porridge, cerea-" Ann began, but Jill interrupted her.

"I'll have what he's got," Jill inclined her head towards the young man's plate, and Ann nodded, her eyes hard. She gritted her teeth and walked through the door into the kitchen.

Jill couldn't stop looking at the plate of food that was gradually getting less and less full, doing her best not to drool all over the young man next to her.

"Y-you okay?" he asked, and Jill looked up at him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, sorry." She said, grinning sheepishly, and then looked at him more closely. Now that she was focused on his face as he turned to stare back at her, it was much more plain to see that he was _hot_. Their eyes met, and he blushed beetroot red and quickly dipped his head, going back to his plate.

'_What a weird guy_,' Jill thought, '_He's sooo cute_,_ and yet so shy_._ Hmmm_._ Ah well_.'

"What's your name?" Jill asked him.

"Kwifv," he said through another mouthful. Jill frowned.

"Pardon?"

The young man swallowed.

"My name's Cliff," he said, with a nervous smile.

"Aww, cute name," Jill said, with a flirtatious smirk. Cliff went red and hid his face again.

Ann returned with Jill's breakfast.

"Here you go," she said, trying her best to smile and be polite, but when she noticed the way Jill was looking at Cliff, her face dropped into a scowl. She watched as he and Jill chatted on for a bit, giving each other sheepish grins, but when Jill broke out into another flirty smile and batted her eyelashes, Ann had had enough. She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Jill, and she would probably be steaming if she got any angrier.

"Um, waitress? Could I have a glass of water please?" Jill asked Ann without even taking her eyes off Cliff, and she winked at him. Cliff went red once more. Ann gasped.

"No." She said, folding her arms. Jill looked up at her, shocked.

"Excuse me?"

"No you cannot have a glass of stinkin' water," Ann said, fuming. Jill looked at her, her eyes vacant, and then her face contorted into a deep scowl.

"What do you mean I can't have any water?"

Cliff gulped, and slowly stood up.

"I mean exactly what I said. I won't serve you."

"What? No service?"

Ann nodded, her hands balling into fists. She had to stuff them in her pockets so she didn't slap Jill.

"But you're a waitress; that's all you're supposed to do – you're _supposed_ to serve people!" Jill shouted, infuriated. People looked up at her from around the room.

"I can do a whole bloody lot more than serve people," Ann said, and pulled one hand out of her pocket and clenched it into a fist again, shaking it threateningly.

"Pfft, not from behind that bar you can't," Jill said, a sneer growing on her face.

Ann saw red.

"Alright, that's it. Get OUT of my Inn!" Ann yelled and threw her hands into the air in frustration. "Somebody else can have your breakfast!"

"Y'know what, I will!" Jill said. She grabbed a piece of toast from her plate and bit it defiantly, tearing off a chunk. She opened a purse that she pulled from her pocket, and tossed five gold towards Ann, then stormed out.

Ann breathed out slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose. Cliff had nervously backed away from the bar, leaving the money needed behind, and had gone upstairs where Ann couldn't take out her anger on him… Yet.

Jill, after slamming the door behind her, grumbled insults about Ann under her breath between shovelling bits of toast down her throat.

"Girl needs to learn her place in life," she grumbled, and, turning her nose up, stomped further down the line of small buildings, looking at each, but none of them interested her. She was so angry that she forgot she was walking, and just let her feet carry her. It wasn't until she smacked into a signpost that she stopped.

"Ow! What the-?!" She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her head. She glanced up at the signpost, ready to go home. The moment her eyes saw the word 'farm' she careered off in that direction, still grumbling.

By the time she had arrived at her destination, she looked miserable. She was upset with the way people were treating her – they could at least try to show a little kindness. She sighed, and walked forward, her head bowed – right into somebody.

"Gah!"

"Ow!"

Jill looked up from where she had fallen to on the ground to see another young man. His sparkling, intelligent blue eyes were wide with shock, and his sandy-blonde hair curled slightly around his face until it came to a stop at his shoulders. He was also rather good-looking.

'_Why are there so many good-looking guys here_,_ and none in the city_?' Jill thought, rolling her eyes, '_Typical_.'

"I'm so sorry!" The young man said, and before Jill could react, he had heaved her back upright. "Are you okay, miss?"

"Y-yeah, I think so," Jill said, her face pink, "I'm sorry, too."

"You're forgiven," he said with a huge grin. He looked her up and down, and then seemed to study her a bit before continuing. "You must be the new farm girl everyone's been talking about…"

"Yup! That's me." Jill said cheerfully, "Jill Collins. I moved here from the city."

"The city? Wow!" The young man said, "Must be a big change, huh? I'm Rick. Rick McChicken."

Jill sniggered, then covered her mouth and looked at him apologetically. He glared at her.

"Sorry," Jill mumbled. "Anyway, what are you doing on my farm?"

"Your farm? This is the poultry farm. Your farm's all the way over in that direction," Rick said, pointing back the way Jill had come. Jill groaned. The sign must have said 'Poultry Farm' instead of 'Mineral Farm'.

"Isn't poultry some kind of meat?" Jill asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't think you could farm meat…" She frowned. Rick chuckled, then giggled, then started to laugh uncontrollably.

"What?" Jill asked, furrowing her brow.

"P-p-poult-try i-is ch-ch-ch-chicken-n!" He laughed, and doubled over, clutching his stomach. "Th-this is a ch-chicken f-farm-m!" Jill blushed and bowed her head, and then glared, her hands on her hips. Rick saw the look on her face and shoved his fist in his mouth to stop laughing. Jill quickly changed the subject.

"So, you, er, run this place by yourself, then?" She asked, and looked around. Chickens clucked and scratched at the ground in pens that were scattered about the surrounding field, and in the middle was a converted barn – it was a nice, spacious house now.

"No, I live with my mother and my sister," Rick said with a grin. "C'mon in and meet them!"

"I-" Jill protested, but before she had the chance to finish her sentence Rick had taken her by the elbow and was leading her into his house.

"Mom! Popuri! I have a visitor!" he called, his face lighting up with excitement as he grinned at Jill. She smiled back awkwardly.

"Who is it, dear?" A pretty, older woman with bubblegum pink hair called from upstairs.

"Yeah, Rick! Who is it? Who is it?" A girl, smaller than Jill, who was quite short for her age anyway, ran into the room, jumping up and down excitedly. Her reddish-brown eyes glinted happily as she saw Jill. Her hair was long and curly, and pink, like her mother's.

"This is Jill," he said with an almost triumphant smile, "She's just moved into Mineral Farm! She's our new farm girl!" Jill grinned sheepishly, scuffing her toe on the wooden floor.

"Oh wow! Hi Jill," The younger girl said, giggling. "I'm Popuri, Rick's little sister. And this is our Mama, Lillia."

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Jill." Lillia said with a weak smile. Her eyes latched on to Jill's blue ones, and she froze, staring intently at Jill's face. Jill raised an eyebrow.

"What's she staring at?" Jill whispered to Rick out of the corner of her mouth.

"I don't know," he murmured back.

"Have I seen you somewhere before, child?" Lillia asked.

"I… I don't think so." Jill said, shaking her head.

An awkward silence ensued.

"…Anyway," Rick put in, "I was thinking Popuri and I should show Jill around. If that's alright with you, mom."

"Yeah! Let's take Jill on a tour!" Popuri echoed enthusiastically.

"Of course, dear. Take care." Lillia replied with a soft sigh.

Meanwhile, Ann, still enraged from Jill's outburst at the Inn that morning, had gone to see her friend Karen, who worked at the supermarket. Karen took her into the back room where they perched themselves on storage crates.

"What's up?" Karen asked, looking at Ann with intent green eyes. She tossed a strand of brown hair over her shoulder. "Is it about Cliff? What's he done this time?"

"No, it's not about Cliff. Would I be this angry if it was Cliff we were talking about?!" Ann yelled exasperatedly.

Karen's eyes widened in fear and she said nothing.

"It's about the new farmer," Ann said with a sigh.

"Ooooh, what's he like? Is he cute?" Karen said with a flirty grin.

"It's a she, and she is most certainly NOT cute!" Ann shouted, frowning. "She's blonde, with her hair in pigtails, and these huge, pleading, baby-blue eyes. She came into the Inn and sat down at the bar, and pretty much ignored me when I introduced myself, and then when I asked her about herself she only answered me in monosyllables, and you'll never guess what she did next!"

"What?" Karen asked.

"She started flirting with Cliff! Right there infront of my eyes!"

"No way!"

"Yes way."

"What an evil cow!" Karen said as her jaw dropped. "How could she?!"

"And then she asked for a glass of water, and she called me 'waitress'." Fury glinted in Ann's eyes as she said this, and she folded her arms.

"Well, if she comes in here, you can be sure I'll pay you back." Karen said, with an evil smile.

"Thanks, Karen," Ann said, and hugged her friend, then got up to leave. "You're the best."

Elsewhere, Rick and Popuri were dragging Jill all over Mineral Town – back and forth and up and down and in so many directions that Jill couldn't tell right from left anymore. They took her to meet Barley and May, Harris, Won and Zack, Anna and Basil and Mary, Ellen and Stu, Manna and Duke, and Elli and Doctor Tim. They had visited the Library, the Clinic, Yodel Ranch, and many houses. Jill was exhausted.

"Now let's go see Sasha, Jeff and Karen at the supermarket!" Popuri giggled, yanking Jill along by the hand. Rick followed behind, an equally pleased expression on his face. Jill was exhausted, and slumping forwards as she was half dragged by Popuri and half running along behind her. She stood up straight and stopped when she heard the word 'supermarket' though.

"S-supermarket?" She repeated, catching her breath. Images of racks and racks of clothes filled her head – not very good ones however.

"Yup! C'mon!" Rick laughed, and he, with the help of his pink-haired sister, steered Jill out of the Clinic door, waving at the Doctor and Elli over their shoulders.

Doctor waved back distractedly, going over some papers as they left.

"Hey, Elli, could you look over these papers while I go and check the medicine room?" he asked, pulling off the lid of his pen with his teeth and scribbling something on a sheet that was on his desk. He blew his black hair out of his warm, dark brown eyes as they searched the room for Elli's face.

"Of course, Doctor," Elli said with a soft smile, and took the papers off him. When he had gone, she glared out the window after the trio. She had seen the way Jill had been staring at the Doctor – open mouthed, and with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Nobody messes with me and my Doctor," Elli mumbled, and turned away.

Jill was excited about browsing clothes, until she actually reached the supermarket. It was nothing like she'd imagined.

The whole place was packed with only three aisles, and the only clothes in there were gardening gloves and a pair of brown working boots similar to the ones Jill's father had given her. Her face dropped.

"What's wrong, Jillie?" Popuri said, her nature bubbly as ever. Jill sighed.

"There's no clothes!" She moaned, pouting.

"What?" Rick said. He gave her a funny look.

"Don't be silly, of course there's no clothes! You can't get clothes in a supermarket!" Popuri said with a laugh that clearly ridiculed Jill. Jill glared.

"Well where I come from, nearly every shop has clothes in it," Jill said, folding her arms.

"Really? You can _buy_ clothes?" Rick said. He looked genuinely surprised.

"Duh!" Jill said, rolling her eyes. "How else do you get them?"

"Our parents make us our clothes," Popuri explained, "They sow us several of the same outfit and then a couple of different ones for special occasions."

Jill's jaw dropped. She would never survive, living like them.

"Wow. You guys really have it rough here, huh?" Jill said with a slight giggle. Popuri and Rick exchanged confused glances. Jill shook her head. "Never mind…"

"Hey, Rick!" someone cried from across the room. A girl with brown hair and pretty green eyes came out of a door with a crate in her arms and dropped it on the counter where an older man stood. He smiled fondly at the girl, then started unloading the crate.

"Karen!" Rick said gleefully, and ran over to her. They hugged.

"That's Karen," Popuri explained to Jill, "They say they're just 'best friends', but they act more like a couple. Ask anyone." She giggled, and Jill smiled.

'_Well_, _if Karen is nice enough to be dating Rick_, _then I_'_ll probably like her_,' she decided.

When Rick and Karen stopped hugging, Karen's eyes travelled to Jill, and she instantly glared at her. Jill was taken-aback.

"Who's _she_?" Karen asked Rick, still glaring. Rick raised an eyebrow.

"That's Jill, she's the new farmer," Rick said, "Popuri and I have just been showing her around. She's a little strange, but she's alright." He said, smiling. Karen just glared even harder. Rick suddenly looked worried.

"Well, let's look around!" Popuri said to Jill and once again grabbed her by the hand and led her around the shop.

"Hey! Crop seeds!" Jill said, taking a sudden interest. Mayor Thomas had told her that she needed to grow crops to earn money, which she didn't have much of. She picked up a packet of each, and then walked over to the counter, behind which Karen was now standing.

"I'd like to by these, please." She said with a grin, and pulled her purse out of her pocket.

Karen ignored her.

"…Hello?" Jill asked.

Still no response.

"Helloooooo?" Jill put her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowing. Karen still didn't say anything, let alone look at her.

"Is she hard of hearing?" Jill asked Rick, turning round. Rick shook his head violently as he saw Karen tense. Jill turned back around and waved a hand infront of Karen's eyes. Karen still did nothing.

"I guess she's blind, too." Jill said with an over dramatic sigh.

Karen lashed out at her, growling.

"Ouch!" Jill cried as the palm of Karen's hand came into contact with her cheek.

"You stay away from Cliff!" Karen hissed, glowering at Jill. Jill's eyes widened as she flashed back to the argument she'd had with the waitress girl Ann that morning.

"B-but I-"

"And you stay away from my Rick, too! He's my best friend, and I don't want him getting involved with stupid blondes like you!" Karen shouted, pushing Jill away from the counter. Jill stared at her, stupefied. Then she glared.

"I'm not gonna stay away from my friends just because some prissy country girl tells me to!" she retorted, her hands clenching into fists.

"How dare you, you b-"

"Karen, that's enough," Rick said, an urgent tone to his voice. Karen stopped. Popuri glared at Karen.

Jill stared at Karen, still glaring, and pulled two hundred gold out of her purse. She dumped it on the desk, picked up her seeds, and stomped out of the supermarket.

Jill had had it with some of the girls in this town. Why were they being so mean to her? Just because stereotypical blondes were stupid, it didn't make her stereotypical. Tears of frustration tingled behind her eyes, but she closed them and wiped away the moisture that threatened to run down her cheek. _No_. She wouldn't cry. She wasn't going to waste tears on something as stupid as this. She was so angry that she barely heard Popuri calling her.

"Jill!" She yelled, running up behind her. Jill just turned her nose in the air and kept walking. For all she knew, Popuri could be in line with those two girls, Karen and Ann. The ones who were so mean to her. Mary had barely given her a second glance, and Elli hadn't been the most welcoming of people either.

"Jill, I'm so sorry," Popuri said, taking hold of Jill's arm and turning her around to face her. "Karen can get a bit jealous at times is all, I'm sure she didn't mean-"

"I'm not stupid," Jill sniffed, biting back her tears, "Just because I'm blonde. I've been blonde for as long as I can remember; it doesn't make me stupid!" She cried, wiping her eyes again. "…You don't think I'm stupid, do you?"

"Well… You are a little strange," Popuri began – Jill opened her mouth to say something but Popuri cut her off – "But I don't think you're stupid. You're smart, just in different ways to us."

Jill scoffed.

"Yeah, very different." Her eyes travelled to Popuri's as she noticed Popuri staring at something on her cheek.

"You've got a huge red hand mark on your cheek now," she pointed out.

"Thanks, way to make me feel better," Jill said with a sad smile. Popuri glared.

"I'm just saying," Popuri shot back, and then sighed. "Look, I tell you what, as a sorry gift I'll have Rick come round and give you your first Chicken, free of charge. Okay?"

Jill nodded, wiping her eyes again. She was sure they were all red and blotchy now.

"Okay. Thanks."

"No problem. C'mon, I'll walk you home."

Jill sighed. It was nearing four o'clock. She was sat, on her bed, back home. True to her word, Popuri had sent Rick round to drop off Jill's first chicken, and he had also stayed to comfort her for a while. He sent Karen's apologies (although Jill couldn't be sure if they were coming from Karen or him), and they had talked about Jill's life in the city and the residents of Mineral Town for a while. They had also talked about the farm, and Rick said, still trying to make it up to Jill, that he would drop by the next day and help her out a bit.

Jill still couldn't get her head around why the other girls still didn't like her – she was polite enough to them! She sighed, going over and over the way they dressed, the way they acted, and comparing them to herself.

Then, it hit her.

"It's because we're so different," she said, and then grinned. "Yeah, that's it!" That's what she would do. She would change, so she would fit in more, and the other girls would like her. She'd change the way she behaved, her clothing, and many other things. Of course, she would still be Jill – she always put her own spin on everything she did – but she would be a new Jill. A newer, happier, hard working, responsible Jill. Just like the other girls.

An idea sprang to mind just as those thoughts ran through her head, and an excited smile broke out across her face. She rushed to one of her cupboards and pulled out her sowing kit that she always took with her (for clothing emergencies – and she was very good at sowing and making things, too) and then the horrible clothing her father had given her and Brady's old overalls, and set to work.

Tomorrow, she would be a different person.


	3. Change Isn't Always Difficult

**Hello again everyone! I'm really excited, 'cuz I FINALLY got HM: MFoMT! Yay! And I thought they didn't release it in England. –mmph- **

**I got so hooked into it that I drew my brother into the game and he ordered and now has FoMT (which has a much better opening, might I add). I played it through to the summer of my second year, and then I took it out of my DS (I don't have a GBA) to test my brother's game for him when it came, and I didn't put it back in properly afterwards and it deleted all my save data. ¬.¬**

**And I was **_**THIS**_** close to marrying Kai! D: -grumbles-**

**But oh well. I kinda did screw up my farm and let my chickens die by accident anyway… . .**

**I'll stop my pointless ranting now. –nodnod-**

**So, um… On to the review replies!**

**HmGirly;** -wipes brow- I'm relieved that you have pieced something up, because I was worried if anybody would actually get it after re-reading it a couple 'a hundred times. :) But I'm not allowing myself to let on anything else for a while now. XD So you'll have to bear with 'stupid blonde city girl' Jill and her 'stupid blonde city girl' actions. Oh, and of course, all the adorable boys in Mineral Town. You're too right about that, especially seeing as I have the MFoMT game now. :D And I hate being Ill. But it has one good side – constant HM playing without being told off. Aw yeah. X3

I know, Ann got a little… protective, of Cliff, but that's just how she comes across to me. Fiery tempered, energetic, loyal, protective, and a very good friend once you get to know her. –nodnod- Oooh, Karen… What can I say? My first impression of her on the game was this sort of 'holier-than-thou' look she gave me when I spoke to her. Hmmph. Yeah, I don't particularly like Karen… She reminds me of a friend I had in infant school who was very bossy and liked to be in control of everything and everyone. So that's how I'm kinda portraying her. She's the leader of the pack and now Jill's here, she has rivalry. -gulp- But the feuds should die down soon enough. Not sure how much I can say for Karen though. :/ And this is a long review reply when you look at it on Microsoft Word so thank you again for reviewing and, trust me, I am DEFINITELY having as much fun writing this as you are reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Vanessa Hudgens' songs, or any of the other songs listed in this chapter. Neither do I own Harvest Moon. Shame I don't. :/

--------------------------------

[ Chapter III: Change isn't always Difficult ]

Tired baby-blue eyes flew up to the clock that hung on the wall as Jill entered her tiny farmhouse and locked the door behind her. Three o'clock… Either there was an eclipse, or it was some unearthly hour in the morning. Her hair was dripping wet, and the little beads of moisture trickled down her back and she shivered; it was a chilly night, even for the middle of spring.

As Jill plonked herself down on one of the chairs at her little wooden table, she scanned the room. All around, clothes were splayed out and bits of fabric littered the whole place – even over in the kitchen area and on her bed. Her sowing kit was lying on the table, a complete mess of thread and needles, and pins and thimbles. Jill held up her sopping wet hair and trudged slowly over to a cupboard she had dubbed as her towels cabinet. She pulled one out and wrapped it around her hair, half-heartedly rubbing the flannelly material between her hands to dry her locks. When she was done and the worst of the water was out of her hair, she moved over to the cabinet with the mirror in it and looked at her reflection. She had bags beneath her eyes large enough for anyone to do their shopping in. Her eyes then moved to her half-dry hair. It looked _very_ different. No longer was it city chick platinum blonde, but it was now a soft, fresh, more natural looking golden blonde. And… Well, it looked better than peroxide blonde had - it needed re-dying anyway.

Deciding to leave her hair for a bit, Jill walked around the room collecting pieces of clothing and she sat down on her bed, folding them up. Her experience – or lack of it – of folding clothes disabled her from folding them properly and she soon became bored and instead took to flipping her BlackBerry up and down again. There was a little chiming noise as her thumb accidentally brushed a button on the number pad and the 'menu' screen popped up. Jill stared at it dumbly for a few seconds before her eyes widened in realisation. Her BlackBerry may have been completely useless in the way of contacting people, but it still had all her music files on it!

With glee, Jill navigated through to the music page and scrolled through her lists of songs. There were many favourites there – 'Love Story' by Taylor Swift, 'Everytime We Touch' by Cascada, 'Iris' by the Goo Goo Dolls. Unable to decide which to listen to, Jill selected the 'shuffle songs' option. The familiar quirky flute and drumbeat of 'Never Underestimate a Girl' by Vanessa Hudgens came to life in her ears, and she grinned, singing along as she began folding her clothing again.

"Never underestimate a girl, gets anything she wants, she's never gonna stop. Never underestimate a girl, she's always got a plan, the world is in her hands…" A smirk crept onto Jill's lips as the words left her mouth, and a new determination flickered in her eyes as she once again attempted folding her clothes.

***

The sun barely in the sky, Rick stepped onto the doorstep outside Jill's Farmhouse and adjusted his glasses. The field around him really was a mess, and he thanked the Harvest Goddess for his knowledge of farm tools. He rapped his knuckles on the door, and stepped down, waiting for Jill to answer. There was a loud thud and a yell, then a load of grumbling and cursing as footsteps approached the door and it swung open.  
Rick jumped in surprise.

"J-Jill? That you?"

"Nobody else lives here, so who else could I be?" The unrecognisable, knotted, fluffy ball of hair that Rick guessed was Jill said as she yawned, scratching her neck.

"Erm… You might want to get dressed," Rick said, averting his eyes from Jill in her pajama-fied state.

"Oh yeah." Jill said, probably still half asleep, and stretched. "Gimme a minute. Or five." She said as she shut the door, leaving an awkward-looking Rick standing on the doorstep.

Ten minutes later, Rick was still stood on the doorstep. He glanced at his wristwatch.

"Jill, what's taking you so long?" Rick asked, frowning.

"I'm doing my hair!" Jill called from inside. Rick rolled his eyes.

'_She takes longer to get ready than my sister on her birthday_,' Rick thought with an exasperated sigh.

A further ten minutes later, Rick was sat on the doorstep leaning against the door, and he almost fell backwards onto the floor as it opened.

"You can come in now," a polite, cheerful version of Jill's voice said, and Rick got up quickly, readjusting his glasses, then stepped inside.

"Whoah. Messy in here, isn't it?" Rick said, observing the room strewn with clothes. Jill was picking up clothes and neatly folding them, placing them in a pile on her bed. As she turned to face Rick, it wasn't just the state of the room that shocked him.

Jill looked… Different. Her hair was darker, a more golden colour, and it suited her better. She seemed a lot more natural, too – her hair and fringe were down and loose, and she wasn't wearing as much makeup as she had been every other time Rick had seen her. As for her clothes… Well. She was wearing a plain pink t-shirt under a pair of stained, ripped-at-the-knee, blue overalls, and a pair of brown work boots.

"Like it?" She asked with a dazzling grin, and she did a little twirl.

"Y-yeah," Rick said, returning the smile. "It's… A lot more practical."

"I decided I'd try to fit in a little more – y'know, act more like the people who live here. Maybe then those other girls will like me."

"Hey, Jill," Rick said, looking concerned, "you don't have to change yourself to fit in. You're perfect just how you are."

"Well, I wanted to try it out anyway. Think of it as an experiment," she said with another bright smile.

"It suits you," Rick said softly. Jill raised an eyebrow, and Rick cleared his throat. "Anyway. The air is warm, the sun is shining, and the day is young, so we'd best get started on that field of yours."

Outside, accompanied by all of Jill's tools and a wheelbarrow Rick had provided, the two stood, staring out at the huge mess, which hadn't really improved despite Jill's best efforts on her first day.

"I have no idea where to start," Rick said, frowning.

"And you're supposed to be helping me," Jill said with a smirk. Rick rolled his eyes.

"How about we get rid of those twigs and branches first and turn them into lumber?"

"Lumber?" Jill asked. Rick sighed.

"Wood. For building and for fires and stuff."

"Oh. Um, yeah. Good thinking, Batman."

"Batman?"

"You have so much to learn…"

"Likewise." Rick took a hold of the wheelbarrow and started pushing it around the field, Jill collecting the smaller twigs and leaving the bigger branches where they were. When they were done, Rick pulled an axe out of Jill's rucksack and walked over to a branch.

"Here's how you make lumber," he said, and swung the axe down in the middle of the branch, chopping it evenly in two. Jill looked frightened.

"Knowing my luck, I'll manage to chop off my own foot doing something like that. Perhaps you should do it for me?" She chided with a sweet, begging smile. Rick shot her an impatient look.

"Want me to help you or not?"

"Yeah yeah, okay. Show me again?"

Once again, Rick, swung down with the axe and chopped the branch in half.

"Your turn," he said, smirking, and handed Jill the axe. She faltered slightly under it's weight, grinned embarrassedly, then stumbled over to a branch dragging the axe behind her along the ground, heaved it up, and as she went to swing it over her shoulder and down onto a branch, it slipped backwards out of her hands.

"Drat," she hissed, and she scowled at Rick as he stifled a laugh. "I can do this, you know," she said, and determinedly picked the axe up again.

"Alright," Rick chuckled, "show me."

Jill focused on the branch at her feet, positioned the axe above her head, and swung down as hard as she could on to it's wooden surface. The axe's blade barely scratched the bark. Rick let out a snigger.

"Shut up!" Jill snapped, folding her arms. Rick smiled and walked over, picked up the axe, then handed it back to Jill.

"Nearly," he said encouragingly. He adjusted the position of Jill's hands on the axe, and then put his over hers. "Like this." He chopped the branch several times, instructing Jill to do the same as he did, and they did it again and again so well that Rick used less and less force each time after a while until he stopped doing anything altogether and Jill was doing it by herself – shakily and unevenly, but she was chopping up the branch.

"Good work!" Rick grinned.

"Thank you," Jill said, smiling back. "Right, now let's do the rest."

A while later, they had chopped up all the branches and were wheeling them over to what Rick had described as Jill's lumber shed. Rick opened up the doors, moved the wheelbarrow forwards, and tipped all the wood into the shed.

"There we go," he said. "You'll need this lumber if you ever want to put an extension on your farmhouse, or your barn or your stable or chicken coop."

"I have all those things?" Jill asked, her baby blue eyes bewildered.

"Yup," Rick said, pointing at the three other buildings on Jill's land. "That's the barn, that's the stable, and that's the chicken coop."

"_That_'_s_ why you put my chicken in there!" Jill said, realisation dawning on her. Rick smiled at Jill's naivety.

"Have you named her yet?" he asked, closing the lumber shed door and leaning against it.

"Yup. She's called Korma."

"Korma?"

"Yeah, as in Chicken Korma." Jill studied Rick's confused expression, then sighed. "Chicken Korma is a type of curry."

"Oh right, yeah. I knew that," Rick said, blushing. Jill smirked.

"Of course."

"I did, I promise!"

"Yeah. I believe you."

The rest of the morning was spent sorting out Jill's field. Rick showed her how to smash rocks with her hammer, cut down weeds with her sickle, and plough the ground with her hoe, ready to plant seeds. They had just finished sowing the last of the seeds – cucumber ones – and were sat on the big boulder in the sweltering spring sunshine, glasses of water in their hands.

"That went well, considering…" Rick paused, then shook his head, chuckling.

"Considering what?"

"Nothing,"

Jill snatched the glass of water out of his hands just as he lifted it to his lips and held it as far away from him as possible.

"Tell me, or I'll spill it!"

"Oh no! I guess it's not just like I can refill it using your tap straight away, is it?" Rick smirked, folding his arms.

"You're asking for spillage, mister."

"I'm so scared! I- gah!" Rick was cut off as Jill threw the water in his face. "That was unfair! You never said I'd be getting wet!"

"I told you I'd spill it, but I didn't say where," Jill laughed. Before she could react, Rick had her newly emptied glass in his hands, and she was soaking wet too.

"Rick!"

"Jill?"

"Think fast!" Jill had the watering can in her hands, and lunged for Rick. He didn't have time to dodge, as the water was slopping down his back from the top of his head.

"Jill, stop it! That's freezing cold!"

"Fine," Jill said, pouting, and she dropped the watering can on the floor next to her. That was his chance; Rick picked it up quick as a flash and dumped the whole lot over Jill's head. She gasped, freezing up as the cold water soaked her through.

Jill looked up through her wet fringe that was plastered to her forehead at Rick's equally wet figure, and they both laughed, sitting back down on the ground.

"Hey, at least we'll dry off," Rick commented, pointing to the ever-burning sun that shone high in the sky. Jill smiled.

"Yeah. Hey, Rick?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for helping me today," Jill said, lying back, hands behind her head. Rick lay down next to her.

"No problem. A friend in need is a friend indeed – I like calling you my friend," Rick said thoughtfully, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"I like being called your friend too," Jill said softly, and she grinned. "It's Sunday tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Would you like me to come help you out tomorrow?"

"What, at my meat farm?"

"Hey, shut up! I'm new to this place." Jill huffed, and rolled over onto her stomach, still looking at Rick.

"Very, it seems."

"But I am learning. I mean, you taught me all those things today, like how exactly to hold the grim reaper's thingy so it'll cut down the whole weed and-"

"The _sickle_," Rick corrected, giving her a smug smile. "You've still got a long way to go, but yes, I suppose you are learning."

"Right, well I wanna learn more. If you let me help out tomorrow, it'll be a huge help for you and Popuri _and_ I'll learn more about how to look after Korma!"

Rick considered this momentarily, before he gave in.

"Yes, alright," he sighed, "you can come and help out at the Poultry Farm tomorrow."

"Yay!" Jill squealed, throwing her arms around Rick in a tight hug. "I promise to do my best, and I'll work really hard and I'll learn more stuff and-"

"Okay okay, steady on," Rick said, his cheeks flushing pink as he hugged the enthusiastic blonde back, laughing.

"You won't regret this, Rick," Jill said as she let go of her bespectacled friend and sat up, grinning from ear to ear.

"I hope I won't," Rick teased, receiving a poked-out tongue from Jill. "Be there at eleven – no later, or you'll miss out."

"I will be," Jill retorted, smirking as she pulled herself up off the floor, "I don't take _that_ long to get ready."

"We'll see about that," Rick said as he too got up. "See you tomorrow then."

"Yeah," Jill smiled. "See ya'."

"Bye." And with that, Rick left.

***

10:55. Jill had five minutes to get to the Poultry Farm, which was at least ten minutes away, and she didn't even have her overalls on yet. She tied her hair back in a neat ponytail and heaved the long blue things on over her t-shirt – the red one, today, picked up her work boots, and dashed outside shoeless.

As she hurtled down the lane, attempting to pull one boot on at the same time, she spotted someone coming from further ahead. As she got closer, she noticed the fiery red hair of Gray, and slowed down a little, pretending to be on a morning jog as she passed. She gave him a polite smile, but before she could get any further, she lost her footing.

"Aaah!" THUMP. She fell flat on her face. Something grasped hold of her shoulder and turned her around. Gray was looking at her intently with his big blue eyes, although something about him gave the impression he was slightly annoyed. Perhaps it was the fact that he rolled his eyes rather expressively as she spoke.

"You alright?" His gruff voice said as he stood back, allowing Jill some space. She looked up at him and smiled gratefully, nodding.

"Yeah, thanks. I dunno what happened, I was just jogging and… I fell over." Jill said. She grinned at him sheepishly, desperately hoping that Gray didn't notice the pink flush spreading over her cheeks.

"So you're telling me you tripped over your own feet?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Gray rolled his eyes again, and Jill glared at him.

"Hey, some of us are allowed to be accident pro- ouch!" Jill exclaimed as she lifted herself up off her elbows. There was a small red graze on her arm.

"Want me to take you to the clinic?" Gray's voice was teasing.

"No, I'm fine, thank you very much." Jill said, standing up and pulling her other boot on, wincing as she flexed her arm.

"Sure?"

"Yes, I'm very sure," Jill replied coldly, and she dusted herself down. Then, she turned her nose in the air and stalked off down the pathway. When she was out of sight of Gray, she sprinted along the road and arrived, breathless, outside the poultry farm. She knocked a few times, and then leant against the doorframe, making herself look at least presentable, before Rick opened the door.

"You're late," he scolded, before Jill could even give him an explanation.

"I-"

"You can tell me why later." Rick said, handing Jill a rake. "Get into the chicken coop, now"

"Yessir!" Jill said, pretending to salute, and she skipped over to the coop, pushing open the door only to be bombarded by hungry chickens – about eight or nine of them.

"Rick! Help! They- whoa, down, chicky! Control yourselves, or I'll- Rick!"

Rick shooed the chickens away from Jill upon arrival, and then extended a hand to help Jill up. She looked a little dishevelled. Rick chuckled as he pulled bits of straw out of her now lopsided ponytail.

"Thanks," Jill mumbled. She stared at her feet and scuffed the toe of her boot on the floor, sighing.

"Okay. Start raking all the straw and bedding into that corner, and tell me all about it," Rick said. Jill explained her encounter with Gray as they worked.

"Not good," Rick frowned. "Now let's hope the village gossips don't find out, shall we?"

"Village… Gossips?" Jill asked, confused.

"Sasha, Anna, Manna and, sadly, my mom. Their lives basically revolve around whatever petty gossip they can get their hands on – and they make up things about people if they've got nothing else,"

"Oh. I know the type," Jill said, furrowing her brow as she pushed particularly hard on a lump of bedding that refused to be raked. "But what's so bad about finding out that I fell over and scraped my elbow infront of Gray?"

"They'll think there's something between you two. And they'll tell – and I mean this when I say it – _everyone_ who'll listen, and then Mary will find out and she'll be all upset and-"

"You mean Mary likes Gray?" Jill gasped. Rick nodded solemnly.

"She doesn't seem the type, I know," he mused, frowning.

"But he's so… So… Moody!"

"Yes, Jill. Nice description, there."

"And he's brooding and uptight and snappy and enigmatic and-"

"That's a lot of assumptions, Jill." Rick said, smiling slightly. "I mean, you've only just met him."

"Where I come from, I was renound for being able to read people like books," Jill retorted, folding her arms.

"Whatever you say. But a lot of us here know that Gray can be very different to how you've, er, 'read' him."

Jill merely sighed.

"Just teach me how to look after Chickens, farmer boy." Her eyes glinted with humour as she spoke. Rick nudged her playfully.

"Then listen up, farmer girl."

-

"Don't you think it was nice of Jill to offer to help out today, Mama?" Popuri asked through a mouthful of a freshly baked chocolate cookie, twirling a ringleted lock of bubblegum pink hair around one finger. Lillia smiled at her.

"Indeed, dear. It's lovely to see Rick having so much fun," she added, glancing out of the window at Rick and Jill as they fed the chickens, scattering grain and corn all across the courtyard, feathered balls of excitement squawking and clucking as they chased after the hands that fed them. She mainly focused on Jill. She looked different today. Her hair was more golden and her complexion was less harsh – infact, as far as Lillia could see, Jill was glowing with happiness. A happiness that Lillia was familiar with; like a memory from a dream.

'_Now where have I seen that face before_?' Lillia pondered, a frown creasing the corners of her lips. Popuri's loud munching arose her from her thoughts, and she continued. "He's never really had many friends besides you and Karen."

"Yes mama, but I'm his sister, and he's been friends with Karen since they were two or three. I think it's good he's made a new friend." Popuri paused thoughtfully, and then spoke up again. "Do you think I could be Jill's friend too?"

"Well, I don't see why not. You're both charming enough girls, I'm sure you'll get along just fine," Lillia proposed, smiling warmly at her hopeful daughter. As she finished speaking, the door clicked open.

"Hey, mom," Rick said brightly as he stepped inside, Jill in tow, "hi sis."

"Hi Lillia, Popuri," Jill echoed, grinning. There was a full basket of eggs on her arm and she set it down gently on the table. Rick leant his rake on the wall just beside the door.

"Hello, children," Lillia smiled.

"Hey!" Popuri chirped, and then she faltered slightly as she looked at Jill. Jill's eyes met her curious reddish-brown ones, and she looked away.

"Something smells good," Rick commented, his ocean blue eyes searching the room for the culprit of the mouth-watering scent. He saw the tray of cookies lying on the centre of the table, and his eyes lit up. Jill followed his gaze and reacted similarly.

"They're freshly made," Lillia announced with a motherly pride. "Anna taught me the recipe yesterday at her cooking class. Popuri's had one, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you both had one too – and one only," She chuckled, giving Rick a knowing glance. He frowned slightly.

"I'm on my way up to the clinic now, so I'll need one of you to take the desk while I'm gone," Lillia continued, "Rick, be a dear and put those eggs in the pantry and sweep the yard for me?"

"Yes, mom," Rick said, and hugged her. "Be careful, now."

"Oh, you young'uns," Lillia laughed, "always looking out for me. I couldn't wish for better children. I'll see you all later."

"Bye mom!" Rick and Popuri called, and Jill waved politely.

"Goodbye," she said, and Lillia left.

"Okay Jill, you can keep the counter. I'm gonna go finish up, I'll see you both later. Popuri, be nice!" Then, Rick scooped up the basket of eggs and was gone too.

Jill grimaced, grasping for strands of conversation.

"Hey, uh, d'you think Korma's a good name for a chicken?" She blurted out forcefully, smiling and hoping that Popuri would see the funny side. Unfortunately… No such luck.

"You can't call a chicken that!" Popuri exhaled after a long rant of rights of chickens and discrimination etcetera etcetera. Jill blanched.

"W-Well… She doesn't know what I'm calling her, right?" Jill stammered, embarrassed, "I've never met a chicken that can understand English before."

"Hey, you're right…" Popuri said, brightening immediately. Jill raised an eyebrow at her abrupt mood swing, her bubbly nature difficult to keep under wraps. "Wow! Imagine if you could talk to chickens! I'd tell mine everything, and they'd be my best friends! Besides you, of course, Jill." She added, and grinned. Jill's eyes widened with the abrupt friendship between them that Popuri had created, but she shrugged it off. Popuri was a kind, friendly girl with a good heart, who had already been so helpful to her over the last few days. Why not?

***

And so, Jill spent the rest of the day with the three poultry farmers, laughing and joking and securing three new, close friends. It reminded her of what it felt like to have real, honest friends, instead of cronies who loved her for her money and popularity.

"Hey – Rick?" she asked, pausing in the doorway on her way out.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad we met."

"Really?" The sandy-haired boy beamed. "Me too."

"Tell Popuri and Lillia that for me aswell, alright?"

"Sure. See ya' tomorrow."

"Alright. Bye!"

Suddenly, life was bliss.


End file.
